SPLENDOUR in the Grass have received a highly coveted “Commended Award” for their 2010 event from the prestigious international Greener Festival Awards.

Australia’s iconic green festival, Peats Ridge Festival in Victoria took out an “Outstanding Award”.

Ben Challis, Co-founder of A Greener Festival said “Festivals and music events play a key role in the fight against climate change and we applaud Splendour’s efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste and engage with music fans in changing to a more sustainable lifestyle.”

Environmental Manager for Splendour in the Grass, Environmental Scientist Mat Morris was delighted the festival had been recognised at the international level.

“Over the last twelve months Splendour has developed a range of environmental policies such as our “green procurement policy” said Mr Morris. “This helps people who work in all aspects of Splendour to purchase in an environmentally responsible manner. Also a big success is our “environmental charities policy” and our “turn off and save policy”.

“Splendour was the first contemporary music festival in Australia to offer a carbon offset ticket, which has offset thousands of tonnes of CO² transport emissions. We have embraced recycling with campsite and drink container recycling systems. Also, Splendour has had a policy of using only biodegradable and recyclable cups, plates and cutlery by food vendors and caterers for the last seven years”.

Some of Splendour’s winning 2010 green initiatives:

• 8,427 carbon offset tickets purchased by festival attendees (more than 26%) who offset 875 tonnes of carbon emissions through the investment of $25,008 in renewable wind energy generation.
• Splendour also invested $10,718 in renewable wind energy generation to offset more than 480 tonnes of emissions generated from hosting the event.
• 16 undergraduate environmental science students from Lismore’s Southern Cross University as well as the University of Sunshine Coast worked as Eco Cops at Splendour. They engaged with patrons about living green and handed out over 4,500 bin-ya-butt containers.
• Over 4,500 campsite recycling bins made from recycled cardboard were distributed to campers to reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

A Greener Festival Ltd. is a not-for-profit company committed to helping events and festivals around the world adopt environmentally efficient practices.